Sunday 1/27/08 Aerospace Museum, Auto Museum, Lego Land

Hi Everyone,

Sunday was the 1st full day David & I spent touring San Diego. We started our day at the Aerospace Museum. In this museum- is the history for flight from it's very beginning down to this day. There are many wonderful exhibits detailing the history of flight. There is plenty of staff if you have any questions- but most exhibits have detailed write ups to read. The hours for here are 10 AM - 4 PM (7 days/wk) Sun- Sat. for additional info please see their website at:
http://www.aerospacemueseum.com/
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #107: http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

Then David and I walked across the parking lot to the San Diego Auto Museum. This was a very interesting place also. It had many cars from early 1900's right on up through to some future type models. The history in here is great too- so much to see. There were also some vintage motor cycles in here too. We met up with a guide whose name was Mike Yeakle. He made cars for Dale Earnhardt Sr. There was one of Dale Sr.'s cars and motor bikes at the museum. Mike has a website if you'd like more information on Dale Earnhardt Sr. please check out: http://www.americashero.org/ . If you'd like more info on the Auto Museum- please go to: http://www.sdautomuseum.org/
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM # 108: http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880


We were off to Lego Land next- this was about 30 - 45 mins drive from downtown San Diego. Now even though this place is geared for kids...Kids of all ages will enjoy it. It's a park where everything is made out of Lego's. It is truly amazing to see the things that are made out of Lego's. In the middle of the Park is an area that depicts many places in the USA and in other parts of the world. I have been to many to the places in USA that they recreated. It is really great to see this part of the park. There are rides here for kids- and interactive places for the kids to build their own stuff (each building area is separated by age groups). There are gift shops and places to eat here too. To get more info on this park please go to: http://www.legoland.com/ .
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #109:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

Well it started to rain while we were at Lego Land and it was getting late in the day- so we decided to call it a day and head back to the motel. We needed to get some rest, as we had another full day ahead of us the next day! We finished out the day by having dinner at Achiote'.
This was a very nice Mexican Food Restaurant. The food and atmosphere were great and prices weren't bad.

Off to get the pictures together for this entry....take care and I'll be back soon- Donna

1/26/08 Checking out San Diego with David

1/26/08 Saturday
Howdy there!
Well here we were (David & I)- on the west coast for the first time. My first instinct was to see the ocean!!
So after breakfast we were off- to check out San Diego, find some of the places we wanted to see, and to find the beaches!!
The motel, we were staying at was in southern San Diego. As a matter of fact we were only 3 miles from the Mexico border! So everything we wanted to see was north of us.
The 1st thing we found was Silver Strand Beach. It was a great beach very long… once parked I had my sandals off and was heading to the water! LOL- Everyone else on the beach was trying to avoid the water (probably to cool of a day for them - in the 60’s) but not for me. The water was wonderful. The waves here were pretty good size considering there was no storm in the area.
After playing in the surf for awhile and looking for shells…we were off again.
We drove thru downtown San Diego. Making notes of where certain things and streets were. So when we came back on Sunday to start using the “Go Card”, we’d know which way to go. We found a parking area (there are several) along the harbor. We stopped to get pictures of the city and of the art work that we saw there. We spent most of that day just driving around- taking pictures and getting a feel for the city. We then went a bit further outside the city and found Imperial Beach. This is a very nice beach/area. Lots to do and see- with a great fishing pier. We took a walk out to the end- watching the local surfers doing their thing, the wild life and did some people watching too. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day!
We finished off the day by getting some pizza for dinner from Eastside Pizza. It was very yummy!
Ok off to get the pictures for this entry ready….see you all soon- Love Donna
Picture #1- motel and monster truck
Picture #2-3- view of Mexico from near motel
Picture #4-27 San Diego
Pictures #28-33 Silver Strand Beach
Pictures #34-50 Imperial Beach
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #106:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

1/24/08 San Diego, CA

1/24/08
Hello,
I my first full day in California was spent resting! LOL The next day my son David was going to arrive for a 9 day visit with me.
On Friday 1/25/08, I picked David up at the airport it was great seeing him again. The airport was about 15 mins away from motel. David was pretty hungry by then with the time change and all - so we stopped next door to the motel and got a bite to eat. We spent the rest of the evening visiting, catching up and planning our adventures during his visit.
We had purchased “Go Cards” for the San Diego area. You can get these cards for most major cities and I would highly recommend them- even if the city is in your own state! They come in 1,2, 3, 5, and 7 day packages. We had purchased the 5 day pass. We saved a lot of money using (almost $300 for the two of us) this card. How it works is they give you a card (looks like a credit card) and a book of all the attractions, stores and restaurants that the card is good at. These books are great- really gives you an idea of all the things to do in the area. This card will either give you a free admission into an attraction or tour, a percentage off or free item in a restaurant, or a percentage off or free gift from a store. Like I stated earlier- David and I both got a card for 5 days which cost about $136.50 each. We ended up saving almost $300.00 with all the things we did…and we did a lot- but there was so much more we couldn’t get to!! So really folks…I would highly recommend these cards if you want to really get a feel for an area and save money! The link to the Boston Card is: http://www.gobostoncard.com/ at this site there are links to all the other cities they offer. Go check them out!!!
After a bit of discussing the plans David started to unpack his things. He had mentioned that he had a surprise for me. I thought it might be a Patriot’s shirt or hat (as we had been talking about them- they were in the play offs against that San Diego Chargers -that upcoming weekend) So David then handed me a box- it was a box for the camera he had bought his Nana a few months back- ( a real nice digital camera with zoom lens). So I opened it expecting to find my t-shirt… LOL…to my surprise there was a camera in it….“still being a bit slow on the draw”..I said “Oh, Nana let you bring her camera- that is great-we should get some good pictures!”…David started to laugh- he said no it’s yours! Well it took a couple of seconds for it to hit me then WOW!! He had gotten me the same camera…cause I was saying how much I really liked my moms- and someday would have to get one. What a blow me away surprise! Thank you again so very much David!!! The camera is great. It’s a FujiFilm- Fine PX S5700- camera. It has many wonderful features and takes great pictures! I said well since I have this great new camera- would you like to have my old faithful digit camera??? LOL- He said sure it would be a step up from the one he had!!! LOL
But the surprises were not over! He then took out a memory card and put it in the camera…and said watch this….. As I watched I saw my dog MayMay…. David had gone over to his uncles house and videoed taped (on the new camera) all the dogs- mine and my brothers all talking to me! It was so great to see them all especially May…. I had been missing her so much since I left her there. So as you can see it was a very good night for me. I had my son visiting, a new camera, and a video of my dog talking to me!! What more could a person ask for??? Nothing!
David and I decided to take the 1st full day of his visit relaxing and driving around the area to get a feel for things…..that will be in the next blog.
Hope this entry finds everyone well. Take care everyone- I’ll be back soon- Love Donna

1/23/08 AZ to CA

Hi Everyone,
While spending the night in a rest area in AZ, I noticed some billboard signs that had “Points of Interest” for that area. I made notes of things I wanted to see and headed out early that next morning.
I started at 5am making my way to my 1st stop- Tombstone, AZ. I am a “western movie nut” and have seen many movies over the years about this town. I thought it would be neat to go take a look at the real thing! I arrived just before sunrise. I parked my SUV and waited for the sun to rise so I could see everything. When it finally did get light enough, I started to laugh, as I noticed I parked right out front of the “OK Corral” !! (LOL)
The streets were mostly empty- with the exception of some folks heading to work, and buses getting ready to pick kids up for school. I strolled around the town and took several pictures. I will have to re-visit this area again. I want to check it out more thoroughly. It was very interesting peeking into the different shops they have there….but as it was so early -nothing was open!
After getting my quick view of Tombstone, I was once again on the road. The next stop was at an Old Mission.
This Mission was part of the National Park Service. The Mission San Jose’ De Tumac’acori was very old and I was surprised to see how much of the ruins had survived till now!
There was a school field trip at the mission while I was there….so needless to say they was a lot of energy filled children all over the place! LOL
I spent about 1 hr there…then I was back on the road to the 3rd and final place I wanted to check out before leaving AZ.
The 3rd stop was at The Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. Just outside the park entrance is a small artist village. There is many little art type businesses here. Things like pottery, quilts, sculptures and many, many more! Once inside the park, there was a whole lot to see and learn! It was more like a museum of that time period- you walked around through the different buildings and you would see artifacts from the time period -when the presidio was up and running. It was interesting to see all the items and to read about life back then. I spent about 1.5 hrs here- then got back on the road-I wanted to make California by night time.

For more info on Tumacacori: http://www.nps.gov/tuma/
For more info on Tubac Presidio: http://www.azstateparks.com/Parks/TUPR/index.html

When I hit California I came across a vast region of sand dunes- they were real pretty to look at. Then I hit the mountains again… by this time it started to storm and was getting dark fast. I kept looking for a place to stay for the night but nothing that I could afford was in this area, so I kept driving. I ended up in San Diego. I arrived about 7pm and started to try finding the hotel I had booked for when Dave arrived- I was a day early, but hoped they had a room available. Around 8pm I finally found it and I was very fortunate- they had my room vacant! So off to rest I went…it had been a very long day.
Well off to post this and the pictures that go with it. Will be back soon with more tales of me in San Diego! LOL Check back soon. Take care til then- Love Donna
Tombstone pictures # 01- 40
Mission pictures # 41-92
Presidio pictures #93- 176
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM # 105: http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

1/22/08 Making my way out of TX going to CA

Hi Everyone…..
On January 22nd, 2008 I left San Angelo. I was finally heading out of Texas. I needed to be in San Diego, CA by 1/25/08 ,as my son Dave was flying out to meet me and spend 9 days checking out the sights with me.
As I was making my way out of TX …I passed thru El Paso. While driving I heard an ad on a local radio station, for a store in El Paso that had sports memorabilia. They specifically advertised having New England Patriots things…I thought this was very interesting considering this is Cowboys territory…and Texans take their football very seriously….they don’t take kindly to outsiders!! LOL So I decided to try and find this store. I followed the directions that the radio gave- and I was able to find the store with no problem. The name of this store is “ Xicali Imports”. I was checking things out- there was quite a variety of things here…one being sports memorabilia. I was looking for a vinyl Patriots sticker (to put on my back window to accompany my Boston Red Sox sticker that Bab’s had given me). I was having a hard time locating the sticker that I wanted and the young man behind the counter asked if he could help me find something…. I told he what I was looking for….he started to get all excited and said I have them right here (near the register). Come to find out this young mans name was Mike, and he and his brother were huge fans of Boston teams. They had been to MA and had really enjoyed themselves. Mike even mentioned that they had hoped to someday move out to MA. So we were talking sports Patriots then about the Red Sox…I had mentioned that my son Dave had gone to game 7 of the American League Champion Series….well Mike got real excited then!! He said me too !!! He went on to tell how he and his brother were there at the same game….he even showed me pictures on his blackberry that he had taken at the game. I told him I was traveling and that I would mention him and his store on my web blog. When I got back out to the parking lot I noticed a jeep that I had parked next to and started laughing out loud….I didn’t need three guesses to figure out who it belonged to…..as you will see in the pictures it must have belonged to Mike and he didn’t exaggerate he definitely does like MA !!! I was great meeting you Mike….I wish you well. If you ever find yourself stop in and say hi to Mike and take a look at the many interesting items they have in stock. They are located at: Xicali Imports :7824 North Loop Drive El Paso, TX 79915
Now was I making my way into New Mexico and I started get anxious… The last time I was in this state I had my car totaled by cows!! (see 3/27/07 blog) LOL It was starting to get late- I wanted to get into and out of NM before it got to dark….I made it thru with out incident - thank goodness!! I spent the night in a rest area in AZ.
Well I’m off the get my next entry ready….will be back soon- Love Donna
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #104:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

12/29/07 Arriving in San Angelo, TX

Hey Everyone……
Time for more updates!
On Dec 29th I arrived in San Angelo. I came here to visit with my friend Jullie. I took a couple of days to get rested then on Monday nite Jullie & I went out to her favorite karaoke bar. We had a great time.
The next few days I spent exploring San Angelo. I found it very similar to Killeen. A military town (Goodfellow AFB). There were a few things different here than in Killeen- one being there as a good sized University here, and the other there was an old section of town that dated back to the 1800’s when Fort Concho was “the military base”.
On Jan 12th, Jullie & I went to see a play at the Angelo Civic Theater. It was a musical called “I love you, You’re perfect, Now change!” The play was excellent…very funny. It took a look at relationships from being to end…from youth to the golden years.
Jullie and I also enjoyed dinner at Carino’s. They had delicious Italian food!
My next adventure was to Fort Concho, on January 15th. At the front desk was a very helpful young man whose name was Corey Robinson. Corey was very helpful and gave me a brief history of the Fort and made sure I had everything I needed to do my tour. I took the self tour, but they do have guided ones for those who choose them. It was very interesting seeing the fort…..not like I pictured forts in the west. There were a lot of artifacts to look at and read about. I found it especially comforting as I was walking from one building to the next. I got the sense of home while I was there…..It had to do with the structures themselves. They were made in the early 1800’s- The house I grew up in, was constructed in 1724- These building had the same creaky wooden floors and stairs. Also the door frames and thresholds looked the same….it sort of was like being back home in Hanover. We owned that house from 1962 - 1994, when Mom moved to Taunton.
For more information about Fort Concho please see: http://www.fortconcho.com/
Next on January 19th, I went to see a place called Buffalo Gap. When I got up to go here it was very early and there had been a deep freeze overnight. I was wishing for my ice scraper! (LOL) Within a few minutes of the defrosters being on I was on my way. I saw a beautiful sunrise as I head north. It didn’t quite take me as long I thought it would…and when I got there most of the things around there were not open. I went and grabbed a cup of coffee, and found a flea market opening up. This flea market is opened on the 3rd weekend of every month. There were not a lot of tables open as this was the 1st event of the new year and it was mighty chilly. But there was quite a bit of space for tables so during the spring and summer - I’m sure this quite a big event.
I went back to the Buffalo Gap Historic Village around 10am. They had just opened, so I was first customer for the day. This is a small village set up in approx. 1 acre site. It is a village set up to depict 50 years of Texas history in the area. It is divided into 3 areas the 1880’s, early 1900’s and 1925 era. This was a self guided tour- with the use of information wands. You punch in the number of the site you are looking at and there is a recorded description of what you are seeing. It was a very informative site. If you’d like more information about this area see: http://www.buffalogap.com/
I was starting to end my time in Texas….It was time to get moving again.
I want to say thank you to Jullie for having me stay with her. I enjoyed my visit with her very much. I also enjoyed meeting a few of her friends…..a special thanks to Niki and her husband Harland for making me feel welcome.
It was now January 22nd and I was back on the road again…..My new destination was San Diego, CA. Needed to be there by the 25th as my son Dave was flying in to meet me there and spend 9 days visiting.
Well I’m off to get the next entry ready….I hope you enjoy the pictures of San Angelo- With love-Donna
PICTURES 1-2 ~~~~JULLIE
3-58 ~~~FT. CONCHO
59-184~~ BUFFALO GAP
SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #103:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

Tranferring of Blog Complete!!

Hi Everyone,
As most of you know I was having problems with my AOL blog account. I wasn't able to resolve them and started to look for a new home for my blogs. I found this blog site and I really liked it. I'm not able to put all my pictures on here like the old site, but they provide a program to post pictures for users. In all of my blogs I list a link for this site, so that you can view the pictures I have taken.
After I had found this site AOL announced that they were closing down their blog site- so this is for the best!!
I now plan to finish updating my blogs- I had been holding off until I found "New Home". I have many blogs from January 2008 til present day.... including my last days in TX and my travels to CA, then my route back to MA.....I will try to have everything completely up-to-date by the end of November...so please check back and often for the latest blogs and pictures....Until next time take care everyone!!- Love Donna

Leaving Florida and Heading Back To Texas

Hi,

It was now December 26th and I was making my way back to Texas. I said so long to John....I enjoyed my stay very much- Thank you. I left about 10:00 a.m. and traveled until about 11 p.m. that night. I ran into a very bad t-storm earlier that evening in Mississippi. I stopped and had dinner, at that time, to avoid the bad driving conditions. Then when the rain let up I continued until I got to Louisiana. I stop at a rest area and took a nap. Around 3 a.m. I started back out on I-10. I made it to San Antonio by 9 a.m. I stayed at a local motel for the remainder of that day and night- getting some much needed rest.

The next morning I headed north on I-35 to Nolanville. This is located near Killeen. This is where Tommy was now staying. He had called me the day before when he heard I was back in Texas. (We didn't get to visit very long after his arrival back home from Iraq, and he asked if we could get together for a bit.) So..... instead of heading straight to San Angelo (my intended next stop) I was going north again!! LOL I arrived in Nolansville around 1p.m. I was introduced to Tommy's friends and then we were off to do some shopping and getting a bite to eat. My visit with Tommy was great. We really had a nice time....lots of laughing, and catching up. After a good nights sleep, I packed up the SUV, went out to lunch with Tommy, then headed west to my next stop San Angelo.

The drive to San Angelo was nice. I had beautiful weather and there wasn't much traffic on the route I took. The only problem I ran into is that I hit an area that had no phone service (for about 1 hour). This is only the 2nd time since I've started my travels that this has happened...so I very fortunate...I have a good cell phone provider!!

I arrived in San Angelo on December 29th about 5:30 p.m. I will be here for about 3 - 4 weeks visiting with my friend Jullie and checking out the area. So until next time- take care everyone and be safe!! - Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #102:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880
Tags: FL, TX

Horses, Cats & Dogs of Ocala

Hi Everyone......

On December 20th, I accompanied John to Ocala. He had an appointment that day so I decided to go exploring while he was busy.

I came to the center of town and saw a small garden / square there. I also spied several horse statues.....very similar to the other art statues I have encountered along the way on my walkabout. So I just "HAD TO" stop and investigate!!! LOL

I finally found a parking space, got out and started taking pictures of these horses. In the same area, there was a woman who had a hotdog stand. I found out this woman and her hotdog stand are a well known fixture in the area, and there have been several newspaper articles written about her in the local papers. I asked her if there were anymore horse statues in the area, so I could get their pictures too. She directed me to the visitors center across the street and the Marion Cultural Alliance- down on another street. I thanked her and was on my way to find more horses.

I first went to the visitors center....where I saw a statue of a sm colt. I took it's picture, but there was no literature there that I could see about the horses, and no one was in the office at the time I was there. The visitors center was in same building as Chamber of Commerce, and they had a receptionist. She was very nice and pointed out another horse with in that building, and told me I would be able to get the most information from the Cultural Center......so after taking some more pictures I was off to find the Cultural Center.

I found the center, and within a few minutes was talking to the director. Her name is Nancy Ledding. Nancy was very helpful (as was her staff). Nancy explained that the horses were part of an exhibit called “Horse Fever” She allowed me access to the two horses they had there....then explained where I could find the remaining ones that were still in the area. Most had been auctioned off and moved already. We got to talking and I explained about my travels and how I had come upon several different types of this charity art work. She told me about another project ( a current one) that the Center was working on... it was called “Barkitecture“. It is art statues of cats & dogs and scaled model dog houses that have been displayed through out the Ocala area...and they will be auction off on February 2nd, 2008. The proceeds will help the Cultural Center and the Humane Society of Marion County. Nancy told me I was in luck because the upcoming weekend all of the pieces would be at the old library on display for all to see!! Well needless to say I was very excited with this news, and started to make plans to be back in Ocala that weekend. She also told me about a project going on in California (a state that I'm traveling to very soon) that will have statues of giant tortoises. She even gave me a contact name to reach once I get out there. Nancy said that Anne would be able to tell me where I could find all the pieces...so I'm very excited about seeing these statues too!!!

On Saturday, John & I arrived at the old library. We were greeted by Roseanne and Elsie, then we began to walk around enjoying the very creative works of art on display. I took many pictures - as you'll see above- and then we stopped to talk with Roseanne & Elsie some more. Come to find out they were mother and daughter. Roseanne (the daughter) is very active on the committee that came up with the idea for this project....and it was a family thing...because Roseanne's husband even lent his talents in building one of the dog houses! I told them about my travels and how I had seen other works of art...and how much I have come to enjoy looking for them. After spending almost 2hrs there we decided it was time to leave. This was a very enjoyable experience. I encourage all to check in their local areas to see if any such projects are in the works or have been done in their areas. These beautiful works of art are so wonderful to look at and experience!

Well until my next entry...take care everyone- enjoy and be safe!! - Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #101:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

***** For more info on:

The Marion Cultural Alliance see:

www.mcaocala.com

The horses see:

www.horsefever.org

The Barkitecture see:

www.dogtownflorida.com

Tags: Ocala, FL

St. Augustine 12/18/07

Hi Everyone...

Back again.....

My next adventure was to St. Augustine, FL. John & I drove over to the east coast to check out this historic area.

We first visited the beach, then was heading toward the State Park. On the way to state park we spotted the St. Augustine Light. As most people know I love light houses, so of course we had to stop!! LOL

When you first enter this area- there is a gift shop that has a room with a lot of memorabilia. Then you can go up to the light house and actually go into the tower. Just inside the light house is a museum type setting of actually rooms & artifacts used when the light house was manned. Then we climbed up all 217 steps to the very top!! The we strolled (LOL- well I actually crept holding onto the wall of tower- I'm deathly afraid of heights LOL) around the top of the light house...this was such an awesome experience!!!! Not only did I get to go into the lighthouse (most you can only view from outside), but I actually made it to the very top and walked around the watch-walk!!! The view was beautiful.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them- Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #100:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

Tags: St. Augustine, FL

Shane's Going Away Party

Hi Ya'll,

The next thing I did while in FLA was to attend the going away party for Shane, my cousin Mia's son. He was leaving that day for basic training- he had joined the Navy. It was great to see everyone. I surprised my mom, aunt & uncle as they did not know I was back in FLA...LOL

The Party was held at my cousin Michael's restaurant - Fatty N' Mabels... (Michael is Shane's uncle).

There were a few tears as Shane said his goodbyes....but party the came to a happy close. I love you all- it was great seeing you again!!-Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #99:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880
Tags: Port Richey, FL

Crystal River, FL

Hi Everyone,

I made it to Florida safely. Rested up for a few days waiting for the shuttle launch- the launch ended up getting canceled until January.

I decided to find some things to do in the central and upper part of Florida. I was going to be staying with my friend John in Summerfield for about 2 1/2 weeks.

Our first trip was to the Crystal River area. We were looking for an area to see manatee's, but we weren't very successful finding them. LOL

But we did find quite a few other interesting things to see. Our 1st stop was a whoops stop....I thought I had been told that the power plant area was the place to see manatee's...so we headed that way. Well we got onto the road to the power plant and realized it wasn't what we wanted but by that time we were unable to turn around....so we ended up having to go thru security. LOL So now I'm not only on the radar in Mexico & Canada...but here in the States!! LOL After being released from the security station we headed out on our search again. We ended up at the Crystal River Archaeological State Park. This park was small and quaint. It had a lot of information and artifacts from early Native Americans that lived in the area.

After walking around for awhile...we moved on down the road. We ended up at the Crystal River Beach. This is a small, clean almost private type beach. There was a boardwalk and a jetty to enjoy. There were tons of birds resting on the beach...it was great to be able to get that close to them. We finished off the day with dinner at the Golden Corral.

It was a great day and very relaxing.

Ok off to get my other entries ready...Take care folks....and I'll be back in touch soon.

Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #98:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880
Tags: Crystal River, FL